Note to Readers
The crack of gunfire ripped her out of the darkness. Ears ringing, she opened her eyes then had to wait for her blurred vision to clear. Everything around her spun while a thick dust filled her lungs with each breath.
She searched her surroundings through the haze. She was lying in the back seat of an unfamiliar car. Gray leather seats. A small duffel bag and red scarf beside her. Her gaze shifted to the front passenger seat, where a man slumped behind a deflated airbag, his head tilted at an odd angle while blood seeped through his suit jacket. The window beside him had shattered, leaving shards of glass covering the inside of the car and his body. A wave of confusion engulfed her. They’d clearly been in an accident, but no memories surfaced. Only panic.
Why couldn’t she remember?
She sat up and pressed her hands against her head, trying to block out the pain pulsing through her temples. Pieces of memories fought to rise to the surface, but it was like a puzzle where she couldn’t quite find the right pieces to snap into place. Couldn’t find the answers she should know. Like, what was she doing there? Who was the man in the front seat? She glanced up and caught her dazed reflection in the rearview mirror. And who was she?
The man let out a low groan, turned and tried to grab for her hand. “You need to get out of here. They...they’re after you.”
She sucked in a sharp breath as she pulled away from him, not understanding. “Who?”
“Just...run.”
His garbled words were clear enough for her to understand the stark warning. Still, she couldn’t just leave him.
Could she?
She reached for his wrist, checked his weakened pulse then saw the FBI badge hanging around his neck.
“They’re coming,” he warned again. “Go. Now...”
Shouts escalated outside the vehicle. Another shot ripped through the air. She turned to see a second man dressed in a suit drop to the ground. She froze. Blood pooled onto the pavement beneath the body. She shifted her gaze beyond the downed man to two men, wearing black, running toward the car.
They’re after you.
Go. Now...
There was no more time to think. She undid her seat belt, scrambled toward the door and shoved it open. The car had swerved off the side of the road, so the forested tree line beyond her was now only a few yards away. She had no weapons. No way to defend herself against the men. Her only possible protection, from what she could see, was the trees. She might not remember any details of why she was there, but she knew that the dying man in the front seat was right and the men coming for her had no intention to help her.
She jumped out of the car and fled into the forest. Her lungs felt as if they were going to explode from the cold air, but she had to keep moving. Her boots crunched through the underbrush. There was no real trail, just trees with thick brush beneath them as far as she could see, which meant leaving an untraceable path was going to be impossible.
Just like outrunning whoever was after her was probably going to be impossible.
Shoving the thought aside, she dodged a fallen branch, barely managing to keep her balance as she ducked beneath it. Her head felt as if someone was driving a stake through her temple, but she couldn’t stop running. Not when she could hear the cracking of dry brush behind her as the men pursued her.
She glanced up at the gray sky above her, barely visible through the canopy of branches. She had no idea which direction she was running, but knew she needed to get as much distance between them as she could. If she found a way to lose them, she could head back to the road and flag down a passing car. At this point, she didn’t care where she went. As long as she got as far away from the men as possible.
Fifty yards later she stumbled again over a dead log and tried to catch her balance, but this time she fell facedown onto the hard ground. Blood ran from a scratch on the palm of her hand, but she didn’t even feel the sting. Instead she could hear them behind her, crashing through the brush as they got closer. It would be only a matter of seconds before they found her. There was a thick layer of brush ahead to her right. It would provide her with cover. If she could hide there...
Still on the ground, she crawled through the brush, praying it was thick enough to camouflage her, then lay flat